Detroit Free Press Staff

While others are speculating about the Detroit Pistons’ next head coach, ESPN’s Chad Ford is busy predicting the Pistons’ pick in the NBA draft.

In the second edition of his first-round mock draft, he has the Pistons taking UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad, a 6-6, 225-pound forward, with the No. 7 pick.

Here’s what Ford wrote: “The Pistons have had a bit of luck the past few years in the lottery. Every year a player who is ranked very high at the start of the season seems to slide to them later in the draft and somehow fits a perfect need. First it was Greg Monroe in 2010. Brandon Knight slid in 2011. Last year it was Andre Drummond. At times, all three were ranked in the top five with Monroe and Drummond going as high as No. 2. Could it happen again this year with Muhammad? The Pistons clearly have a need for a shooter, and before the season began, many scouts had Muhammad as a top-three pick. He didn’t look like one at UCLA, but draft prospects rarely shine in Ben Howland’s system.”